The Sturminster Newton Museum Society was born in 1984.  Its formation was prompted by the sudden death of Ray Rogers who, for many years, had been Registrar for North Dorset and was a keen collector of archival material and a long-time campaigner for a Museum for Sturminster.

The old Union Workhouse Chapel in Bath Road was suggested as a site for the proposed Museum; the last service had been held in 1969 and the chapel had remained empty until acquired by Dorset County Council (DCC) and used as a Social Services store in the mid 1980s.  By early 1986, DCC agreed to lease the chapel to the Town Council which were to sublet it to the Museum Society.

From then onwards members of the Museum Society worked extremely hard to gain public support for their project and to raise funds for the extensive repairs and alterations needed to make the chapel suitable as a Museum. Much of the repair work was done voluntarily; in particular, Stan Score, a friend of Ray Rogers and a skilled carpenter, devoted his spare time to restoring the chapel. Following his death in 1987, the proceeds of his memorial fund paid for some essential repair work and brought the prospective opening of a Museum closer.

Sturminster`s Museum was finally opened on 15th July 1989 by Miss Agnes Williams, a surviving granddaughter of Montague Williams who had built the chapel in 1890. Morris dancers, bell ringers, a car boot sale, a town crier and much attention from the press, accompanied the Grand Opening. In 1994 the Museum Society was asked to take over the care of Sturminster Newton Mill which had been left idle for some years. The Mill and the Museum are now managed both administratively and financially by the Sturminster Newton Museum Society

in 2007 the Museum Society, due to the generosity and enthusiasm of the community, raised sufficient funds to purchase the building prominently located in the centre of Sturminster which was previously occupied by the Town Council. This lovely old building which is admirably suited to be our musem is centrally placed within the town centre to attract more visitors This move to the new accommodation can only be good for Sturminster and its people nand we have every confidence that we will finally have a museum that not only reflects the the past history of our town but becomes a focal point, for visitors and friends alike, of which Sturminster will be proud.

We still have a large financial committment for on going maintenance and service charges and will always be pleased to receive your donations to help cover these charges.